A Formidable Foe
by Rosebane22
Summary: Abby attempts to persuade the council into an idea that may save everyone on the Ark. One problem... Marcus Kane.
1. A Formidable Foe

Abby strolled down the hallways, a tablet in hand as she inspected the new blueprint she had come up with. Since the air in the Ark was slowly degrading, she had come up with a possible solution... Earth. It had been ninety-seven years since a nuclear apocalypse had decimated the Earth, along with any inhabitants. She believed that the ground still simmered with radiation, but that it may be survivable. Looking at her blueprints studying the wristbands she had thought of, Abby was now determined to suggest her plan to the rest of the council. First, however, she decided to run the plan by Sinclair, one of her closest friends in engineering. A determined look on her face, she picked up her pace as she realized the next council meeting was in half an hour. Abruptly rounding the corner she ran into someone, immediately annoyed she regained her composure and did not even bother to look up as she muttered, with obvious frustration, "Watch where you're going next time." Abby stepped around this person and was about to continue walking until that person grabbed her elbow and turned her around. She whipped up her face, only to meet Councilor Kane's eyes. Seeing him, Abby cursed under her breath and murmured, "Oh, it's _you_." She boldly refused to avert her gaze as Kane studied her with a guarded expression. After what seemed like several minutes but in reality was only seconds, Kane pursed his lips, "Where are you heading off to so hurriedly, Councilor?" He flicked his gaze to her tablet, attempting to see what she was working on. Abby huffed, turning her tablet away from him as she bluntly stated, "You'll just have to wait to the meeting, Councilor." Roughly pulling her arm away from his grasp she returned his suspicious glare and spun around continuing on her mission.

It was time for the meeting, and Abby had already been reassured by Sinclair as he said her plan seemed valid. She walked to the councilor's meeting room a few minutes early, only to let her thoughts drift to disgust as she was about to sit across from her nemesis Marcus Kane. He was so... So irritating. He would always contradict her, as if Abby's fury amused him. She was lost in her negative thoughts as she opened the door to the empty meeting room, heading to her seat as she tried to push her thoughts away. Sitting down she peered at her tablet once more and attempted to organize her words into sentences that left no room for unwanted resistance against her theory. Before she knew it the door creaked open and other councilors came in nodding towards her in a friendly 'hello'. Soon everyone had taken their assigned seats and Thelonious Jaha, the current Chancellor, and one of Abby's friends, had thanked them for coming and went straight into business.

"We have approximately five months before the Ark runs out of oxygen. This meeting is held to present ideas, and whether you may think your particular idea is a stretch, please share it."

He looked around expectantly at the table of councilors and Abby figured this was the best time to present her idea.

"Actually, I believe I have a possible fix." All the heads swerved towards her, but she only looked to Thelonious to ask her permission to continue. Seeing Jaha nod to her, she started her speech.

"I am under the influence that the ideal option for our survival would be, Earth."

Doubtful murmuring began to spread across the table, only to be interrupted by the chancellor allowing her to state her case.

Looking around the table, locking eyes with Kane, Abby continued, "I know some of you may have doubts." Breaking their glare Abby looked around the table once again. "Yet, Earth may be survivable, and in our current state, it may be our best chance." Picking her tablet up she presented her idea.

"These wristbands are made to transfer one's vitals and conditions. If we were to supply them to someone heading to the ground, we could monitor their status to see if Earth really is survivable."

Kane cleared his throat, and Abby repressed a sigh, here comes the contradictory.

"Let's say your wristbands _do_ work." He started in a level voice. "Do you really believe risking someone's life as a lab rat, is the right decision?" Abby opened her mouth to argue, but he continued. "Who do you plan on sending down there, Abby? Our own personnel, because I'm sure you would risk your _daughter's life_ over _theirs_ any day." He stated, his harsh tone laced with sarcasm.

Abby sat there, mouth agape and eyes widened as she replayed his words in her head. She slowly blinked and her surprise and hurt was immediately replaced with her overwhelming anger.

"You dare bring my daughter into this?" She started angrily, her voice slowly raising. "If I remember right, your the one who locked her up in solitary in the first place! Oh and yeah, _of course_ I am going to send our personnel down to the possibly stable ground, Kane! 'Cause why would I want them to survive? It's not like I devoted my life's work to saving people... Oh wait! That's _exactly_ what I did!" She spat at his face. Breathing heavily she crossed her arms and glared at him with such a stubborn intensity that the other councilors were still speechless and afraid to break the thick tension in the room. Finally, Thelonious spoke with a calm and gentle voice. "Abby." He chided, wanting her to look at him, turning her head to meet his eyes, he continued. "We all know your loss, and what you do to save our people everyday. We know you would never want to hurt anyone." Feeling a little triumphant as he agreed with her, Abby couldn't help but let her lips upturn into a small smile. "But," Jaha said as he was apparently not done... Abby's smile vanished. "Kane is right in a sense. Who do you plan on sending down there? Someone has to go, and we can't afford to send our doctors or farmers or workers." He could of continued, but Abby had pushed her lips into a firm line and he saw the gears working in her head. She lowered her gaze in front of her, unconsciously letting out an exasperated sigh. She quickly glanced to Kane who was keenly watching her with a slight raise of his eyebrow, and faint smirk tugging at his lips. She suddenly slammed her fists on the table, making everybody except Kane jump, as he expected her to do something irrationally violent. That only set her off more, and studying his face as his smirk dissipated and instead was replaced by a cold glare, she decided she had enough of this. Giving him one of her own glares -as her eyes flashed dangerously- she pushed herself out of her chair, and abruptly stood up,

"You know what?" She said curtly. "I think I'm going to go sleep on this." So, despite the pleading calls from the Chancellor, or the sound of his stern voice speaking with Kane, she did not turn around and instead rushed out the door heading for her quarters.

Closing the door behind her and typing the correct sequence to lock her door she finally allowed her emotions to get the better of her as a lone tear streaked down her face. Looking around the empty room, a silent sob wracked through her body, followed by many more. Tears blurred her eyes as she headed to the bed, barely kicking her shoes off in time before leaping into the blankets, crying her heart out. She had no one to comfort her... Not her daughter, not her husband. Abby sat like this for what felt like hours, not bothering to wipe her tears or try to console herself. That was until she thought back to Jake... Instead of crying new tears for her deceased husband she just felt broken. She had no more tears to cry for him, and she knew he would want her to be strong for Clarke. That was when she wiped her tears away and got up. She went to the restroom and decided it was best for her to calm down her mind with a shower. After about twenty minutes she felt a little more clear headed and went to grab her tablet from the spot she usually set it... Except it wasn't there. Abby realized in mild irritation that she forgot it at the meeting room. She figured the meeting had to of been adjourned, and as much as the thought of going back there haunted her, she needed that tablet. Quickly putting her hair in her signature braid, Abby opened her door and took a deep breath. _You need to be strong._ She kept telling herself over and over, as she walked to where her tablet was.

Soon Abby stood in front of the door to the meeting room and she noticed how her hand slightly shook as she hesitated to open the door. _What are you doing?_ She asked herself. _You are better than some argument with Marcus Kane. Too many times have you had them with him._ A determined look passed over her face once more and she gripped the knob and opened the door. Confidently stepping in, she at first saw no one present in the room, but then as she arrived closer to the table she saw a figure propped against the wall near the back of the room. She shuddered, the black hair along with the tense and cold nature of the man gave him away. Marcus Kane leaned against the wall looking down at the multiple papers in his hand, seemingly too invested in his work to have heard or noticed Abby in the room. She hoped, no, she prayed, that he wouldn't see her in her current state. Any other person would not notice the sad gleam behind her eyes, or her slightly flushed cheeks as a result of her intense crying, but Marcus Kane most definitely would. She softly picked up her tablet and turned around, trying to walk on the tips of her toes to get away soundlessly. She was so close! All she had to do was reach for the door knob and her mission would be complete! Of course, however, a voice behind her made her jump and goosebumps prickled her skin as she froze.

"Abby?" Kane looked at her suspiciously, but his voice was just that, no intended harshness, _yet_ , Abby thought.

"Just forgot something." She said without looking at him, gesturing to the tablet in her hand, desperately trying keep her voice from cracking. "I'll just be on my way then." She quickly urged herself forwards and grabbed the door knob, but hearing footsteps behind her made her freeze... She urged herself to keep going, but her body refused... Then, Kane was right behind her, and Abby was pretty sure her heart stopped. His hot breath tickled her neck as he spoke with a surprisingly benevolent tone.

"Are you okay?"

Abby's body tensed and she shuddered as her hand shook on the door knob. It was really unlike Kane to be interested in someone else's well being, and honestly, that scared her a lot more than she would admit. Especially because of how close he was to her at the moment. But as she thought about what he might be thinking, she realized that she was never scared, or never appeared to be... He was probably worried that she was sick or something. Abby couldn't respond though, her voice was caught in her throat and she repressed a whimper as he slowly spun her around. She looked down trying to ignore his gaze at it was boring into her, studying her odd behavior. Then, of course, he knew.

"Have you been crying?" He asked mildly surprised.

She stood there uncomfortably, but she knew she couldn't act vulnerable, not here, not in front of _him_. So, Abby put on her brave face and met his searching gaze. Their faces were mere inches apart, yet the closeness appeared more as a silent challenge to each other, than anything else.

"That, Councilor Kane, is none of your business." She said, trying to act confident. Before he could say anything to her, she whipped around to the door and threw it open, rushing out to the hallway -with her tablet this time. Walking briskly down the halls to her room for the second time today, she was breathing rapidly. _Why was he acting like he actually cared?_ She couldn't help but wonder... _Maybe there as another side to him that she didn't know?_ Shaking her head she pushed that thought away as she entered her room and began to brainstorm ideas to fix the problem. Who would they send down there? Abby had a vague idea, but it wasn't exactly pleasant to think about.


	2. An Unlikely Encounter

A nearby alarm began to blare, screaming for its owner to get up. Moaning, Abby stuffed her face into the pillow further, trying to muffle the annoying noise. However, there was no way she could fall back to sleep with the repetitive sound piercing her fogged mind. Rolling over she heavily exhaled and pushed herself up. Flinging her hand she disabled her alarm and scanned her room. Her desk was cluttered from a late night of brainstorming, she barely got any sleep, only a few hours. Sighing, Abby forced herself out of bed and quickly grabbed a pair of clothes. Clumsily walking to the bathroom, she stood in front of the mirror looking at her distraught face as she squinted from suddenly turning the light on. Abby bent down to splash her face, better. She quickly finished getting ready for this new day and ventured to her desk. Sighing she looked at her tablet, on the tablet a list of profiles shown, the top of the page reading, _Sky box Prisoners_. Many names have been highlighted... ninety-nine in fact. Abby thought to her daughter, hopelessly stuck in solitary until she was reviewed in a couple of months, on her eighteenth birthday. This would give her a chance. She could be free! Abby grabbed a stylus and was about to highlight her daughter's name... Then she thought to herself, what if she was sending her baby, her one true light in life to die? Shaking her head, hard, Abby highlighted Clarke Griffin's name, she had to have _hope_.

Abby shuffled down the halls, making her way to the councilor's meeting room -it felt like that was her second home by now. She had a solution to the problem, not that she liked it, but something had to be done. Holding her stack of files, plus her tablet, in one hand, she flicked the door open and caught it with her foot before it closed. Repositioning her stack, she nudged the door with her foot and entered. Focusing on her balance she came up to the oval table and let her items fall on it with a big * _thud*_ . She sat down, and couldn't help but yawn... Her eyes drifted closed for a second... She shook herself. What was she doing? She had a job to do. Trying to focus herself on something else, she picked

up her tablet and typed the name, Jackson. Sending him a message, she thanked him for filling in for her at the hospital when she was gone yesterday and informed him the she would come back after the meeting today. Setting the tablet down, her mind wandered to far off thoughts and again drowsiness tried to overcome her. Except this time, she was too weak to fight against it.

A hefty shake to her shoulder made her bolt upright as she slapped the arm, hard. She heard a startled grunt behind her and quickly she remembered what had happened. Turning, she apologized, it was Thelonious. He wore a small smirk as he was rubbing his reddening forearm. She apologized once more before returning her gaze to the stack of things in front of her. Rubbing her face she cursed at herself for falling asleep. Behind her Thelonious only chuckled softly as he shook his head and turned to sit down in his seat. Abby watched him with a defiant look in her eye.

"How long?" She asked him.

"How long what, Abby?" He said in a questioning voice.

She sighed, "How long was I asleep?"

He chuckled once more before carefully examining her face.

"Not long enough it seems." He replied, his amusement fading swiftly replaced by concern.

"Come on Thelonious," She looked him in the eyes, "I'm fine. Now stop playing games with me... How long?" She tried again.

It was his turn to sigh this time. "Only a few hours Ab-"

"A _few hours_?" She exclaimed as she cut him off with disbelief. "Did I miss the meeting? Did Jackson need me? How could you let me fall asleep for a few h-"

"Abby." Jaha said sternly, cutting her off. "I know that you want to help, but you can't help when your too tired to function."

She looked at him, eyeing him diligently. "Fine." After a short pause she continued. "Did I miss the meeting?"

He shook his head, "I went to your room to tell you we had postponed it to later today, but you were not there. I figured you went to medical, so I came here to work on a few things... Yet, here we are."

She shook her head in disappointment at herself. "Well thank you. I guess I will be back later then, do you mind if I leave this here?" She asked gesturing to her pile of files.

"No, go ahead." Jaha said before watching her stand up and walk to the entrance. "And Abby?"

"Hmm?" She acknowledged before stepping out of the room.

"Please don't overwork yourself."

She paused to look at him for a second before nodding briefly and walking out the door.

Heading in the direction of medical, she stopped and crossed her arms, leaning against the wall. She returned her thoughts to the reason she had slapped Thelonious's arm as he woke her up earlier. Nightmare. She had been having a nightmare. Never had she felt a nightmare so real and vivid. Her heart began to pound as she remembered the horrible dream.

 _Her blood-curdling screams echoed throughout the small room, filling Abby with distress. She yelled for her daughter over and over and over. "Clarke? Clarke! Where are you?" Looking around the pitch black room she saw something, a sliver of light. Groping towards that light like it was going to save her, Abby tripped, falling into a void of darkness. Her screams tore through the piercing silence as she fell... She blinked... In front of her was a girl wrapped in a blanket, a blonde baby... Clarke. Really confused, Abby looked at the baby warily, but nothing happened... It was just her and her baby, before life had happened. Then she heard him, Jake. She looked up and saw his face, adoration and love in his eyes as he looked at his girls. A tear slid down her face and she blinked again... But Jake was crying now, then he was screaming... "Save me! Save me!" But Abby couldn't get to him, she yelled and tried to pass the invisible barrier, but she could not save him. He was sucked out of the airlock, floating towards space, his scream cut off as his eyes immediately turned gray and lifeless. She slowly blinked once more and it revealed her baby girl looking at her mom, broken. She was being dragged away from her... The last thing that she had in her life, taken away. Clarke was yelling to her mom, "Don't send me down there! Don't kill me!" She collapsed to her knees and cried, then blackness surrounded her once more._

Abby's body was shaking, badly. Her breathing was uneven and tears were threatening to spill. She attempted to keep them in, to hold them back. Looking around her for a quiet room to break down in, she spotted an old guard's closet, most likely to store unused uniforms and maybe even shock batons. She knew she didn't have clearance to go into it, but she did anyways. It was empty. She crumpled into a corner and began to sob, knowing that this was the second time this had happened in the span of two days, but she couldn't help it. Abby knew what would happen if she was caught by Kane two days in a row though, he wouldn't let her go until he had answers... So she forced herself to stop crying relatively soon, she had already cried enough, now it was time to do something. Abby wiped her eyes and sat there a minute, allowing her to gather herself. She took deep breaths, and counted down backwards from ten, hoping the familiar method would calm her down. She got up, mentally slapping herself, and left the closet like nothing ever happened. She arrived at medical and let her brain wander to the familiar medical terms as she switched on Doctor Abby mode. Soon Abby had forgotten her worries and was solely focused on her patients, something she was grateful for.

Time ticked by faster than she could of imagined, as she heard over the intercom that the councilor's were requested to the meeting room. She finished up with her current patient and found Jackson letting him know where she will be. He nodded and went back to work with a significantly less amount of patients than before. She washed her hands and swiftly made her way to the meeting. Assuming she was a little late, Abby tried to sneak in, to no avail however. As soon as she walked in, several heads swiveled in her direction and followed her as she sat down. Her fellow councilors looked at her as if she were unstable, perhaps about to throw a fit of burst into tears. Looking to Thelonious for an answer to this odd behavior he only shrugged... That's when she knew, they said something about her when she wasn't here. An annoying curiosity peaked as she looked around to scan their faces hoping to find some answers. Her eyes landed on Kane but he silently looked back at her as she raised an eyebrow.

"No one's going to tell me?" She asked.

Everybody seemed rather perplexed, and she knew they were faking it.

She only grunted, "You know what? It's fine. We have other more important matters to talk about anyways." She shook her head, obviously bothered by the whole ordeal.

Picking through her pile of files, she resumed, "Okay. I have spent countless hours dwelling over this, and to be honest, I still think that this plan sucks." Everyone seemed a little taken aback by her unsettling sentence. "I propose that we send down one hundred prisoners from the sky box." Kane was thoughtfully rubbing his chin, and other councilors began to murmur their consent towards the suggestion.

"I agree," Chancellor Jaha stated, "I do think that these kids are, as much as I don't like admitting it, more expendable than the adults. However, I believe that, if this plan works, they should be granted a second chance and pardoned from their crimes."

The other councilors started to stir at this notion and began to argue with Jaha, but Abby toned it out. She was currently restless as she reflected how they were looking at her before... What were they thinking of her? She had never really been one to think much less care of what other's had thought of her, yet this particular situation really got under her skin. Apparently, she had really been deep in thought because she barely heard Thelonious call out to her a second time, but she did. All eyes were on her again, and she became uneasy. How they looked at her, what the heck? She tried to ignore them, calmly asking Thelonious to repeat his question.

"I said," Gently repeating his question, "Who of the prisoners at the sky box do we send? We have more than a hundred."

"Oh... Yeah." She mumbled as she quickly looked down at her tablet. Giving it to the councilor to her right she began. "I have made a list. Not that I feel some should die while others should not, but because I have tried to incorporate the strong and the smart, allowing the kids to have the best chance to survive." The others nodded their approvals before looking at the tablet as it was being passed around. "I have brought their files in if you do not agree with me on some and think you know a better choice."

Some of the councilors started to sift through the files while others watched thoughtfully. Kane had the tablet now, and she couldn't help but notice his eyes widen for a split second as he was scrolling through the names. His eyes flickered up to meet hers, briefly looking at her with a raised eyebrow accompanied with a disbelieving look. He straightened and finished reading before passing it on but he did not remove his eyes from her for the rest of the meeting. Every time Abby looked at Kane, he was looking back at her, studying her. She felt really uncomfortable about it but she would never admit that. Multiple times she attempted to read his expression or his body language, but he guarded himself like a rock. She even tried to stare at him with irritation so he would look away, but that only managed to raise an amused twinkle in his eyes. Looking around she concluded that everyone was done reading names and sifting so she started to pile the files back up, right in front of her. Nobody knew that she was doing that on purpose, all but Kane. She could of swore she heard him chuckle before she blocked his view with the stack of files. She found that her lips had curled into a small smile, why was she smiling? Shaking her head, she wiped the smile off her face.

"Any objections?" She looked around to everybody shaking their heads 'no'. Nodding, she turned to Thelonious, signaling for him to wrap up the meeting. He did so, and instead of feeling a little accomplished, Abby was a little guilty. She was sending a hundred kids to the ground... One hundred lives to be monitored through wristbands either until they came down and took them off, or until the kids were dead. She shuddered at the thought and snapped back to reality, hoping no one saw her. Everyone began to file out of the room, all except Kane and Thelonious. They momentarily looked at each other before returning their gaze towards Abby, who at the moment was beginning to stand, noticing her small audience.

"Well let's not have everybody talk at once." She said sarcastically, trying to break the tension in the room.

Thelonious was about to say something to ease the conversation towards his question when Kane beat him to it.

"Why was Clarke's name on that list, Abby?" He said rather bluntly as he raised his eyebrow and crossed his arms.

Abby's hands fidgeted, and when not finding the right words she sighed heavily and sat down, her brow furrowing and her gaze lowering. After a few minutes the intercom broke the heavy silence and said that Jaha was needed in the control room. _Lovely,_ Abby thought _, Just Abby and Kane... This should be good._ He said he would catch up later before walking out the door. Repeating his question, Kane came over and sat next to her. She decided it was easier to be angry at him than to talk to him as if they were friends.

"I wouldn't think you'd even care." She said sourly, turned her head away from him.

He sighed, "I don't see why you think that I do not care about anyone. Yes, I have always had a problem with communicating, and yes at times it seems as if I am heartless, but come on Abby, I am not a monster."

She couldn't help it as a single tear rolled down her cheek, "You are to me." She whispered in a broken voice.

Kane began to say something but thought better of it, deciding that she was in a delicate stage as it was. He hesitated for a second, but he did it anyways. Abby tensed as his hand softly grazed her hand, she looked over as it moved towards her face and softly pushed a strand of her loose hair behind her ear. He then brushed the tear off her face. Abby had no idea what she was letting him do, she was shocked at him and more importantly herself. Suddenly, as quickly as he did that, she felt something in her, as if she remembered a long lost memory... She did. She remembered that little boy that had comforted her through her troubles, that little boy who had constantly made her laugh, who lit up her life every day. Another small tear slipped past her eyes and she saw his hand begin to react.

"Don't." She warned, as she quickly disposed of the tear herself...

"Abby?" Kane asked tentatively, trying to make her continue.

"Don't do that to me." She said a little more emotionally than she had meant. "Don't act like your that same little boy that came to my parties... That same little boy that held my hand when I was sad." She said all but in a whisper. "That little boy who stole my heart." She was full on crying now. "Because that little boy pushed me away a long time ago, that little boy crushed my heart, and now," She turned her head towards a surprised Kane, "This man has hurt me more than I could care to admit, and this man can _not_ comfort me like he actually cares." Abby tried to offer him a furious glare before she turned her back to him and broke down, not even caring that he was there watching her.

Kane was clueless, she liked him all those years ago? Of course he saw her as a friend, maybe something more that he never admitted to himself. How did he miss it? Abby always came over any chance she got, always enjoying his ridiculous jokes... He loved having her around, she was his hope in an ultimately joyless place. That one night when he sat alone inside his room, crying and bawling... His father had just passed away from a horrible illness and he felt really lonely. Abby came over, using the 'secret passage' as they had called it. She ran to him, hugging him, saying she was so sorry, even crying with him. But Kane was naive, he didn't see the love in her eyes, the sympathy that poured from her heart that night. All he saw was someone to get mad at, someone to blame for his father's untimely demise. He pulled away from her, she still came over, but more times than naught, she left crying... She was persistent, but he was too broken. Soon, she stopped coming, and Kane closed himself off, joining the guard, putting the law before anything and anyone else. But he didn't understand how much he had hurt her, how much he had scarred her heart. Yet, even after all these years, he still found a way to make her life worse... Voting to float Jake, imprisoning Clarke, having constant arguments with Abby just to prove that he was right. He was an idiot, a jerk, making her life insufferable so he could feel accomplished, obedient. Kane wanted to comfort this woman, comfort this girl like he did when he was little.

"Abby. Please." He begged, emotion thick in his words. "I know I messed up. You were always there for me and I let you down... Please." He said once more placing his hand on her shoulder.

This time she didn't pull away, she didn't have any fight left in her. She turned and looked up at him, her eyes were still full of incoming tears, her face a wet mess, but she didn't care. She looked at him with the brokenness in her eyes, the sadness and pain he had caused her. Kane looked back, she could practically touch the sincerity pouring out of him... "I'm sorry." He whispered as he caressed her cheek. Then her hate left her, the fury leaving for the moment. She just crawled into his arms and cried. Kane was rather surprised when she did this, but he was happy that at least she was allowing him to comfort her. Together they sat, Kane slowly rocking her as he mumbled his apologies into her ear.


End file.
